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Solo Acoustic Guitar Arrangements of Classic Wings' Songs
1 Band On The Run / 4:54 2
Another Day / 3:22 3 Jet / 3:46 4 My Love / 3:12 5 Every Night / 3:52 6
With A Little Luck / 3:32 7 Maybe I’m Amazed / 4:15 8 Silly Love Songs
/ 3:22 9 Listen To What The Man Said / 3:45 10 Coming Up / 3:22 11
Arrow Through Me / 3:13 12 Live And Let Die / 3:00 13 Mull Of Kintyre /
3:53
Laurence Juber, "One Wing", Solid Air Records SACD 2051, 2005 CD
When an ex-Beatle gives you an idea for an album, the next logical step
is to record it! As the story goes, Laurence Juber, who served briefly
yet admirably in Paul McCartney's last incarnation of Wings
(songwriters/guitarists alike should check out the underrated "Back To
The Egg"), handed Sir Paul a copy of his CD "LJ Plays The Beatles"
during a recent get together. Macca shot back at his former sideman
"what about Wings!?" Juber's whip-smart response is this majestic
collection of solo acoustic guitar renditions of McCartney classics.
Unlike John Lennon and Brian Wilson, McCartney has unfairly been on the
receiving end of critical flak for his penchant for effortlessly
penning sweet melodies and selling millions of albums. And, his
post-Beatles career continues to amaze. Juber's greatest challenge was
to distill the composer's complex arrangements, which often included
intricate orchestral passages and abrupt key and meter changes, into a
single instrumental rendition without sacrificing any of the essential
counterpoint and secondary motifs that even casual fans would notice
missing. After all, these songs are more than just standards: they are
recorded artifacts etched into pop culture history. Juber succeeds and
even adds a few joyous twists of his own. For the piano ballad "My
Love," Juber takes his time, letting each verse settle into a groove
peppered with legato phrases, harmonics, a few palm slaps on the body
for a bit of a funky veneer, then continuing on with a series of soft
arpeggios and sharp bluesy embellishments of the melody. "Coming Up,"
originally a glitzy disco hit, is reborn as a mid-tempo dirge with
Juber high-lighting the minor key qualities of the song, sometimes
playing softly and other times bursting into a near cacophonous flurry
of notes and hammer-ons. The once bombastic "Live and Let Die" is given
a folksy make-over with Juber sliding up and down the fret-board
employing sustained chords to their fullest while quoting the melody
and implying the frenetic rhythm of the original recorded version.
Other Macca essentials such as "Another Day," "Jet," "Maybe I'm
Amazed," and even the obscure "Arrow Through Me" are afforded organic
props as well. Juber is a master player and arranger, and solo
guitarists would be wise to transcribe any or all of these tracks. If
you do, you'll always have a gig waiting! Let's hope Juber takes on
George Harrison next.
© Tom Semioli
minor7th.com
Laurence Juber One Wing Solid Air Records SACD2051 CD
As the former lead guitarist of Paul McCartney's group Wings L J, made a
fantastic solo acoustic album of the period of Wings. Juber always knew
to build strong melody lines and even after his Wings period his acoustic
solo albums got better and better. His last album solo album Guitarist got
critical acclaim by the press and his fans. Now on the One Wing CD he
is able to cover a full band with bass lines and percussion in a intimate
setting with a nostalgic atmosphere. A whole range of Wings pieces is
filling the CD, all played with impressive technical guitar skills. With a
stylistic approach Laurence opens with the hit song Band on the Run,
which follows by hits as Yet and for instance A Little Luck. My Love
which is played full passion gives one a soothing feeling, just as Maybe
I'm Amazed with is performed with the same gentle touch. Live and Let
Die is intense and absorbing. Less well-known compositions as Coming
Up and Arrow Through Me are uplifting and very well-executed. Laurence
Juber will amaze many Wings fans with this album as he surely is one of
the best guitarist to play these rhetorical and captivating songs of the Wings
period. Beyond that he is a top-notch acoustic solo guitarist who knows to
impress as no other on many dazzling and moving solo guitar albums.
Henk te Veldhuis
Bridge Guitar Reviews.
Laurence Juber
One Wing
Solid Air Records SACD 2051 CD
Following his interpretations of Fab Four songs, LJ Plays The
Beatles, Laurence Juber decided to record a tribute to McCartneys's
other band. If anything , the guitarist should be even more
familiar with these tunes, since he's an alumnus of
Wings. But recasting them for solo steel-string guitar
shows a completely different side to the material.
As always , Juber rose to the task in fine form, as he quickly
proves on the opening "Band On The Run". As with the
Beatles repertoire, the test of Lennon-McCartneys's
staying power is how many different ways the pair's songs
have been interpreted over the years. Songs like "Another Day"
with almost a classical feel, show that Sir Paul's solo
compositions have that same timeless quality.
Even some of McCartneys's' more frivolous numbers ,
like "Coming Up" and "Silly Love Songs", have plenty of melodic
dimensions for the guitarist to explore. And he really digs in on "Jet"
and "Live and Let Die", while love songs like "My Love" and
"Maybe I'm Amazed" hold their own sans lyrics, with Juber discovering
new possibilities around every corner.
As usual , Solid Air's attention to sound (rich and
warm) is an added bonus to the steller playing.
Dan Forte/Vintage Guitar Magazine
ONE WING : Laurence Juber
- Solid Air Records won a Grammy award for their Henry Mancini instrumental guitar tribute CD, Pink Guitar. Produced by James Jensen, the CD featured a number of great Mancini covers by gifted acoustic guitarists such as Ed Gerhard, Doug Smith, Wayne Johnson and Al Petteway. Another guitarist featured was Laurence Juber,
who’s cover of “Pink Panther Theme” kicked off the 13 track set. Juber, of
course was Paul McCartney’s guitarist of choice on several Wings albums including his ‘79 set Back To The Egg. 25+ years later Juber returns with a new tribute to his old band entitled One Wing.
Solo acoustic guitar arrangements of classic Wings songs, the CD features
a bounty of guitar-centric instrumentals that were just as often remembered
for Paul’s voice. Transcribing them for instrumental acoustic guitar, Juber
makes the most of his keen insight into Macca’s musical mind and right down
the line, he keeps the melody deeply woven into the guitar fabric. Juber
has recorded numerous solo guitar albums for Solid Air—including his Beatles
tribute, LJ Plays The Beatles—and One Wing carries on his ingenious ability to transcribe classic rock for steel acoustic guitar.
MWE3.com / 20th Century Guitar
Laurence Juber ONE WING
Laurence Juber is known for being a deft fingerstylist, a talented arranger and a DADGAD
master. He is probably best known, however, for having played alongside
Paul mcCartney in Wings. He showed his debt to -and love for- the Fab
Four on his record LJ Plays The Beatles .
It seems only natural then that he should follow with this collection
of Wings tunes arranged for solo guitar. Well, the guy absolutely kills
throughout, with amazing, delicate and powerful steel-string work. His
version of "Band On The Run", played in dropped-D tuning is gorgeous -
full of drama and color. Juber goes into DADGAD
(his "other standard tuning") for "Jet", "Coming Up" and the richly
arranged "Every Night". Dragging the two low strings down an additional
full-step, he renders the rollicking "Listen To What The Man Said" in C,G,D,G,A,D . When
you think it can't get any cooler, he plays "Maybe I'm Amazed",
complete with the classic McCartney solo that he nails while keeping
the bass and harmony parts going at the same time.
"A
lot of people view Wings as a completely different thing," says Juber.
"But working up solo arrangements of these songs really showed me the
continuity that exists from Paul's Beatles work through the Wings era.
This was a very satisfying experience".
.... Matt Blackett/FRETS magazine
Laurence Juber, One Wing (Solid Air).
Paul McCartney is one of the all-time great songwriters, but besides
often being under the considerable shadow of John Lennon, his work in
Wings was forever seen as his second group, something that followed the
Beatles both chronologically and creatively. Listening to guitarist
Laurence Juber, one of the group’s guitarists, play an entire album of
Wings songs is a small revelation of just how inspiring McCartney’s
later band life was. Part of it may be Juber’s considerable talent on
solo acoustic guitar, as he performs songs like “Band on the Run,”
“Jet,” “Coming Up” and ten more with impeccable passion and style.
McCartney’s sense of melody, with all the lyrics and other instruments
stripped away, is a wonder to hear. Very few writer’s creations could
stand up to this strict a test, but the album proves that in the two
hands of someone like Juber, there really is a new life waiting to be
discovered inside the world of Wings. Fly away at will.
- Studio City Sun
Laurence Juber "One Wing" (Solid Air SACD2051).
In an earlier artistic life, fingerstyle guitarist Laurence Juber was a
member of the final incarnation of Paul McCartney's Wings, so he
certainly has the credentials to tackle the post-Beatles repetoire of
his former boss, as he does on this all-instrumental outing.
McCartney's Wings repetoire generally received a bad critical rap,
largely because of the sometimes-precious lyrics and the
often-pop-based arrangements, but Juber's interpretations bring out the
harmonic richness of often-derided McCartney tunes such as "My Love"
and "Another Day". Juber's creativity as a player and arranger is
evident throughout, notably on pieces such as "live and Let Die" which
alternates ragtime-inflected passages with slashing power chords, and
the Baroque-influenced passages he inserted into "Maybe I'm Amazed."
Juber transforms the boozy drinking song "Mull of Kintyre" into a
plaintive Scotish air, and employed ringing open chords and a
relentless bass drone to capture the rock power of "Jet" on his solo
acoustic guitar. With ONE WING, Laurence Juber takes a fresh and
revealing look at the McCartney solo repetoire, providing a diverse and
stimulating listening experience in the process.
(MP)Dirty Linen June/July '06
| Artist: |
Laurence Juber |
| Product Type: |
AMR CDs |
| Item #: |
SACD2051 |
| Price: |
$15.99 |
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